213 – Guest Gaiden 2 – Representation with Amelia Cook

This week we launch our first special guest themed Gaiden series with Amelia Cook, creator of the Anime Feminist website! Get ready for a mega-sized episode as we interview Amelia about her manga/anime origins and how she started Anime Feminist. Then she joins us for a in-depth discussion about representation in manga/anime as we analyze our own positive and negative examples of female characters in shonen battle manga!

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If you have any thoughts on the episode, manga suggestions, or anything else please comment below!

Time Stamps:

• 00:00:00 – Intro Song: “Re:Call” by i☆Ris from Twin Star Exorcists, Opening, Introductions,
• 00:03:07 – Secret Origins: Amelia tells us how she began her anime/manga fandom with Castle in the Sky, Mobile Suit Gundam Wing & Urotsukidoji: Legend of the Overfiend
• 00:07:13 – The dark days of buying 4 episode DVDs for 20 pounds makes Amelia appreciate the accessibility of modern streaming services
• 00:10:33 – The lack of a space to discuss issues in anime/manga helped create Anime Feminist but also had positive and negative consequences
• 00:19:55 – we talk about our experience with harassment and the lessons we learned
• 00:29:56 – Listener Questions: Answering what future goals Anime Feminist are planning
• 00:34:42 – Amelia explains why proper payment & representation with writers is key
• 00:43:30 – Darfox asks Amelia to elaborate the process of pitching to Anime Feminist, working with an editor to shape new articles
• 00:54:33 – Seamus and Amelia praise the stage adaptation of Naoki Urasawa’s Pluto
• 00:58:37 – Next Episode Preview and Rundown: Retrospective on Ode to Kirihito, we will do a comprehensive review of this Tezuka Osamu title(covers chapters 1-11)
• 00:59:03 – Main Segment Machinations Gaiden: Transition Song: “Haruka Kanata” by Asian Kung-fu Generation from Naruto, we have an open discussion about representation within manga/anime
• 01:02:52 – Discussing the shonen battle manga heroine archetype, dakazu and Amelia share their issues on Sakura’s character arc in Naruto
• 01:11:09 – We lament the typical fate of female characters being reduced to moms/wives in shonen epilogues, the body proportions of characters like Orihime from Bleach are a deal breaker for Amelia
• 01:17:23 – Amelia explains with Black Clover and Blue Exorcist how personal experiences effect which representations are overlooked while others are jarring, dakazu doesn’t like the non-consensual male pursuit of females represented in all entertainment
• 01:21:40 – We discuss the various groping perverts that are seen as comedic characters in shonen manga, we examine shonen manga as a commercial product and how that effects English adaptations
• 01:26:11 – We explain how despite having passionate fandoms for manga such as the female MMA manga Teppu, they still might struggle in finding a market in the West, we attribute the increase of BL/Yuri releases to the fujoshi buying them out
• 01:31:22 – We explore female characters in sports manga, Farewell, My Dear Cramer reflects the real life popularity of female soccer for Amelia
• 01:37:34 – The ensemble cast of My Hero Academia help bring a little diversity to it’s female representation, Amelia makes a case for diversity of physical body types in Keijo!!!!!!!!
• 01:41:03 – Personally, Amelia can appreciate the representation in Please tell me! Galko-chan while disliking it due to the character designs, But Re:Zero on the other hand has such great representation it let’s her look past the cutesy moe designs
• 01:46:32 – Darfox and dakazu praise how the sexually active for Haru from BEASTARS isn’t portrayed as shameful female character trait, Amelia likes Scum’s Wish for giving it’s characters complex relationships with sex
• 01:56:04 – Darfox likes the tough but maternal growth in Reiko Tamura from Parasyte, we wonder if pairing atypical manga/anime female characteristics to non-human characters makes them more acceptable
• 01:58:03 – Amelia catches an ingrained generic convention in dakazu’s perception of Emma from The Promised Neverland as gender-less, we discuss how crying for Midoriya from My Hero Academia is looked down upon, the portrayal of dirty ugly men in Kaiji are praiseworthy in darfox’s eyes
• 02:07:50 – Seamus and dakazu praise Shojo Fight for having excellent representation of character interactions that avoid false-conflict, we praise My Love Story!! for exploring relationships after they’ve formed, Seamus appreciates manga that explores relationships between adults without the possibility of breakups in both Friday Night Lights and What did you eat Yesterday?
• 02:11:54 – Amelia’s favorite relationships are couples in Nodame Cantabile and Twin Star Exorcists who support and push each other to greater success, dakazu recommends Kekkaishi for Amelia
• 02:18:09 – Amelia stresses the importance of getting LGBTQ+ perspectives from others who can draw from their own experiences, A Place Further Than The Universe is a realistic representation of young women’s friendships
• 02:23:11 – Amelia had quite relatable experience with Tokyo Tarareba Girls, The end of Absolute Boyfriend resonated a lot with working women
• 02:30:53 – dakazu suspects the lack of fan service in Attack on Titan might have more to due with Hajime Isayama’s lack of artistic talent, the androgynous nature of Hanji ended working in favor for non-binary representation
• 02:35:19 – dakazu recalls how the reader attachment to transgender representation in Family Compo moves past the manga artist’s original intent, darfox appreciates Misturo Kubo’s own female perspective towards the women in Moteki
• 02:38:57 – House Keeping, Next Week’s Topic: Ode to Kirihito, Social Media Rundown, Sign Off Song: “Miraikei Answer” by Trustrick from My Love Story!!